1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an interactive method and system for teaching and practicing articulation of targeted phonemes, particularly for children, that is both attractive and interesting to its users. The method and system may be used to treat various speech sound disorders including problems with articulation, phonological processes and resonance.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
The term articulation refers to the act or manner of producing a sound. A “phoneme” is the smallest unit of significant sound in a specific language. For effective oral communication, a person must be able to reproduce the phonemes making up a language correctly. An articulation disorder involves problems making sounds. Sounds can be substituted, left off, added or changed. Young children often make such speech errors such as, for example, substituting a “w” sound for an “r” sound, e.g., “wabbit” for “rabbit” or omitting sounds from words, such as “nana” for “banana.”
Articulation problems if left unchecked can lead to reading and spelling difficulties, social challenges, and self-esteem problems. Correcting articulation problems requires tedious repetition of the targeted phonemes which are being mispronounced. Currently this is typically accomplished with drill work using word cards or picture/word worksheets.
With current teaching methods, it is very difficult to maintain the student's attention and cooperation because the flash cards and worksheets give the student little opportunity to actively participate in the learning process. The present invention addresses the problem of boredom with a method and system which makes the repetition of the targeted phonemes less tedious and more fun.
Other speech sound disorders may also be treated by practicing the pronunciation of words containing targeted phonemes. These include phonological process disorders such as substituting sounds made in the back of the mouth like “k” and “g” for those in the front of the mouth like “t” and “d”, e.g., saying “tup” for “cup” or “das” for “gas.” Other phonological process errors occur with words that start with two consonants, such as broken or spoon. When children do not follow this rule of speech and say only one of the sounds, e.g. “boken” for “broken” or “poon” for “spoon,” it is more difficult for the listener to understand the child.
Resonance is the quality of the voice that is determined by the balance of sound vibration in the oral, nasal and pharyngeal cavities during speech. Abnormal resonance can occur if there is obstruction in one of the cavities, causing hyponasality or cul-de-sac resonance, or if there is velopharyngeal dysfunction, causing hypernasality and/or nasal emission. Some oral/nasal resonance disorders may be treated by practicing the pronunciation of words containing targeted phonemes. Such treatment is appropriate for those children who demonstrate phoneme-specific nasality or nasal emission due to faulty articulations.